With one foot
by SpeaksInRiddles
Summary: ... out of the grave. Features Fem!MoD!Harry, gray!immortal!DM HM RWn. Mass X-over The final battle was won, but the war itself lost. When Death Eater activity rose, the Statue of Secrecy was shattered in the worst way possible, causing witch-hunts to return. When it came to the point the world began dying, the last four trained magicals jumped ship. Their adventures, who knows?
1. Chapter 1

**AN+DISCLAIMER:** I own neither the Harry Potter franchise, nor most of the worlds this will likely get cross-overed with. I'm making the story up as I go, if only to get he plunnies moving again, but this will also mean a drop in quality until I've gotten enough to rewrite it. hints, tips and constructive criticism are most welcome.

* * *

"You do know", Draco began dryly, "This is an even worse idea than the completely hypothetical time a certain group of gryphindorks that I most certainly will not name out of plausible deniability, escaped Gringotts on a blind dragon, after robbing my aunt's vault."

Ron send a dirty look his way, while Harry and Hermione ignored the guys, in favour of working on the ritual circle that covered both the floor and walls of the Chamber of secrets. "It's not like we have another choice, Malfoy, and you agreed to take part despite it!", came the snapped reply.

Draco shrugged at that answer, "I know, I know. I just wanted my objection to be noted."

They had come together for one, and one thing only. A new chance in life. Voldemort may have been defeated, certainly, but that did not take away the fact that the remnants of that faction, did not die with their lord. The war raged on, and as both sides grew increasingly desperate, increasingly violent, the Statue of Secrecy was broken, shattered to pieces.

If it had happened differently, the two worlds might have been able to merge relatively peaceful. Having been caught on camera multiple times however, both while attacking, and obliviating, the public cried out for blood. And they got it , whether it be pure or impure. Wizarding, half -or muggle born.

While it was only a minority of the public that blamed them unconditionally, the witch hunts had begun anew, despite attempts from the government to stop them. Too many innocents had died already, and even more would die in these retaliation-strike. And they did, they definitely did. Die that is. All this fighting, it was killing the planet.

Caught in the middle as they were, Harry, who had been unable to separate from the Hallows, since she had been declared the Master of Death, did everything she could to stop them, but it wasn't enough, would never be enough. Searching for more time, for smaller costs, and implausible chances, she had found a tome in the Peverell vault, written by the previous Master of Death himself, before he granted the three Hallows to his sons.

Harry had tried to do the same, giving Ron the Elder Wand, Hermione the Resurrection Stone, and her former rival and-kind-of-but-not-really lover the Invisibility Cloak. It did nothing though, nothing but make them as eternal as she herself was, as long as she choose for them to be. Having infinite time did lessen their fervour and sense of urgency a little, but not enough to stop researching.

As connected with magic as they had become, they could feel the world dying, its life fading slowly, even as it attempted to retaliate against the ones destroying her. It was then that they stumbled upon a ritual that was near-perfect for what they had in mind. It would grand them access to the navel of the world, the gate to Yggdrasil, the origin of everything.

The choice to go through with it or not, would have been a lot harder to make, had they not lost everything already. The only thing they had was each other, in an increasingly violent and dying world.

"Done", Hermione tiredly exclaimed after she connected the last few segments to the main circle. "Have you gotten everything memorized Harry..."

The 'teen' in question interrupted her, "YES", she stated impatiently, "No offense Hermione, but we've gone over this over a hundred of times." Hermione blinked stupidly. Pepper-up potions might work well on the body, but it was clear she hadn't slept in three days, with how sluggish her thoughts and responses were. She opened her mouth, and closed it again. She finally settled for a "Sorry, go ahead." And so they did.

With the three bearers standing in the designated places, Harry walked to the middle of the circle. Willing her hand to bleed, the wound appeared, and she smacked it down. The circle began to absorb the blood, and while Harry focused on pouring her magic into it, the three others were responsible for choosing an appropriate realm to move too.

"Let there be peace", Hermione stated, in a voice not quite her own.

She was followed by Draco, "Let there be magic", was his demand, which had the same ethereal quality to it.

Last came Ron, who too, spoke the empowered words needed, "Let there be acceptance."

Having poured all the power she could spare in the circle, which was admittedly quite a lot, Harry willed the Dimensional Gate to open, speaking the arcane words needed. Having called upon and stabilized the portal, they had only a few minutes before it closed on them. Not that they needed that much, having all their supplies ready already.

On October 31st of the year 2593 the last four trained wizards and witches, left this world behind with only the slightest hints of hesitation.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: This first new world is a bit obscure, but I love it anyway xD. I wonder if anyone will get it before the third chapter ^^

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the franchises blended together in this mishmash of dimensional travel.

* * *

Harlequin 'Call me Harry' Potter groggily opened her eyes. and wormed her way out of the pile-up of bodies. Had she mentioned she really, really hated magical transportation. Well, save for a broom, but even those could become rather unpleasant after a while, cushioning charms do only go so far.

She was moderately surprised she was the first to get up. After all, while the others had given direction to the gate spell, she was the one who had to power it.

Nevertheless, they shouldn't stay out in the open like this, so with a quick look around, she raised her hand in the direction of the other three and intoned 'Aquamenti" under her breathe. The three following yelps were like music to her ears, she was a prankster after all.

This was a fact that the others were all to aware off, as they only shot her a few dirty looks, instead of asking why.

"Okay guys", she practically demanded, "Sorry about the water..."

This evoked a few snorts and eye rolls, as her smug grin conveyed her true feelings on the matter.

"...Buuuuut... We really need to scout a little, and since I'm on the brink of magical exhaustion, you can't plausibly expect me to do all the work while you guys are sleeping your asses off.." She took a deep breathe and began, "Ron, Draco I want you to do some aerial reconnaissance. Ron, use a disillusionment charm.", she didn't bother to tell Draco to do the same, since he was the one she had granted the Cloak to. He didn't even have to bother with wearing it, as it had merged with his essence, and all he needed to do was 'switch' it on. "

Hermione, I want you to call up the souls of the dead, I'd do it myself, but right now I'm running empty. We need information about the locals, pronto."

Hermione yawned, before nodding. "On it"

After 5 centuries together, each one of them already knew the drill, But it was.. nice?, no a better word would be familiar. It grounded them. This little piece of normalcy, of humanity, where there could so very easily be none.

Harry herself would work on a barrier, for the lack of a better word. She only had to spread some of her essence to the air around her and infuse it with her powers over death. Normally it wouldn't have drained her much already, but this world was thriving with magic, reducing the cost to even less.. Rather than a barrier, this was more similar to a SEP-field. Except for the fact that it played on fear, instead of blissful indifference. Beings would would sense Death in the air, and it would play on their basest of instincts.

With that done she started to set up the good old enchanted tent that had seen them through the many years. There were clearly patches of another fabric in places that had been repaired, but the enhancements still ran strong, despite its age. While she had been setting up, Hermione finished her initial round of questions to the death.

"According to the woman I summoned", Hermione began, "This world, Azuria is split into three realms. We're in the subrealm Terra. The realm of mortals, their version of Earth if you like", she explained, "The other two are similar to Heaven and Hell respectively, to continue in that vein."

"She seemed to be pretty surprised after asking about our origins. Apparently Dimensional Incursions tend to be ended before they begin. I reckon it is because we are avatars of a natural force instead of true outsiders."

She paused and drank some water from the flacon on her waist. "

The Church is one of the most powerful factions of this world. Some of the others belong to races like dwarves, Makar, Varan and the like. There is also the Sanknie alliance, which is basically a merchant's guild. The church also seems to be doing a good job about regulating the realm, although recently problems have arisen with the defection of their main trouble shooter."

She sighed, "It seems our specifications were not specific enough, because the Church seems to be gearing up for war. They certainly ordered enough supplies and equipment for it, and they have made alliances with the other main factions, against the threat that this man poses..."

It was at this point that the vegetation rustled and Ron and Draco came out, with an unconscious girl on the former's back. Ron scratched his neck sheepishly, "She kind of ran into me while I was flying", he said, preempting the question. "We figured that we might as well take the kid back, instead of leaving her for death in a forest with hostile creatures."

Harry sighed, but her saving-people thing was still overpowered her sense of self-preservation after all these years.. "Alright, put her in the tent.", she said dryly. "In the meantime I want to ask you _how one can run into you while you're flying_..."


	3. Chapter 3

Ron rolled his eyes, "It's not like she could see me", he said sarcastically. "As for the 'How' of it, she seemed to be in a glide of sorts, and I happened to be at the wrong place, at a wrong time." He shrugged, "You know the rest of the story."

Someone coughed behind him, "Well, most of it anyway", Ron amended, "Gang, meet an avatar of Tigerius Ceasar", he said motioning at the giant feline that had now entered the their line of side. "The hate he feels towards his given name manages to equal and possibly even surpasses both you and Tonks, so just call him Tigerius or Ceasar for now. He's a companion spirit of some kind."

He paused before continuing, "I'm going to take you up on that offer by the way, The Featherlight charm doesn't seem able to stick for longer than 20 seconds. And while she isn't THAT heavy, she's not exactly light either."

Ron left for the tent after sharing that decision with the rest of them. "

So", Harry asked the giant cat neutrally, "Would you have any idea where we are? We're a bit lost, and while I wouldn't necessarily call the way we met a good thing, You guys are a heaven-send."

She seemed to come to a realization, causing her lips to twitch a little, "Pun not intended."

The feline eyed her warily, but since her question was neither personal, offensive or sensitive, he saw fit to answer. "Cactakara Forest", he rumbled, before returning to his silence. His eyes, while alert, wandered, and Harry saw that as a sign that he wouldn't talk any further without further prompting.

Diplomatically she continued, "You can join your companion in the tent, if you like." At his incredulous look she answered, "It's a lot bigger on the inside."

"It's not that Miss ...? " the feline began, :I mean no offense, but both that tent, and your group reek of Death. How do I know you do not have any malevolent plans for me and my ward?"

Harry stared incredulously for a moment. She had considered this possibility of this argument for a brief second, but she had decided to trust her instincts about it.

"Very well", she managed, "I would not mind swearing a Vow in this matter. Would that suffice?" Tigerius eyed her for a second, before conceding.

"It is a beginning", he answered, "But how do I know I can trust your word?"

Harry's lips twitched momentarily. "Because Magic itself would witness and enforce it.", she replied, "I may not be capable of dying or losing my magic, due to my unique circumstances, "But it would still be rather painful for days as my body, soul and mind fight off the changes."

She conjured a muggle blocknote and pen, and began to write on it to figure out the right wording.

'I, *insert name*, swear on the highest cost that everything I've said so far was genuine. Neither I or my companions mean harm towards your companionship this day, -although we do retain the ability of self-defense-, nor will I share what we talk about to anyone outside of our respective companionships. So mote it be.'

She showed it to Tigerius, who approved. A few minutes later the literal deed was done. Almost immediately Hermione began to talk excitedly to the Feline, trying to find out more about him, this world and the inhabitants. She sighed.

This was going to be a long evening.

* * *

AN: corrected a sentence, the original sentence was, "...Neither I or my companions mean no hard towards...", it's a small mistake to make, but one that should be, and is already corrected ^^


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** longer than most of my chapters, but still dreadfully short. Kudos to people who recognize the cross-overed world, and perhaps even the characters themselves.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I do not own either of the franchises this story is based on.

* * *

The first thing Solate grogily noticed when she came to, was that her body hurt.

The first actual thought going through her mind was something along the lines of 'Why does this keep happening again and again and well, a lot more too...'

She sighed, "This never happens to big sis Alka", she muttered sullenly. "Or everyone else for that matter. "

Well, safe for Suikane, but it has got to be annoyingly hard to drag around a cannon that size and weight while in midair. This was neither here nor there though, as she still didn't know where she was, and where Cuddles had disappeared too.

This, in her mind, was an unacceptable situation. If only because big sis Alka would go in her scary motherhen mode.

It was, only after that thought, that noise filtered through her dazed mind. Huh… Voices? Is that where Cuddles went?

She groaned, trying to get up, and inadvertently drew more attention towards herself.

"She's.. wa…ke..p..ev..yone…"

She could feel Cuddles' presence now, and it moved closer. There were some more entities out there, but it didn't ressemble anything she had felt she simply decided to dub the them 'Stranger'.

There were four of them, and all of them looked humany, although they didn't quite feel that way. It was hard to explain really, but it was as if their center of being were on a slightly different wavelength, causing interference. What was practically palpable though, was the sense of Death radiating from them.

This really wasn't her day.

"Would you leave me here, if I pretend to be dead?", she asked hopefully.

The snorts she heard were an answer in and by itself.

"I like this one", one of the males exclaimed. The other, blonde one merely rolled his eyes and said, "You would, wouldn't you? Neither of you seem to bright."

This caused the black-haired –and hey, she kind of looked a lot like Solate herself- woman to reply, "Down Draco… No need to agitate the locals". The bushy-haired one just sniffed, but did send a glare in the blond's direction.

The blond, Draco it seemed, merely shrugged, "Hey, it broke the ice, didn't it?"

And strangely enough, it did.

For a moment everyone just stared at each other.

"So", Solate began cheerfully, "Who are you?" The others were slightly stunned by her question and the way she asked it. It was one hell of a moodswing., after all.

Hermione broke the ice, "It would be polite to introduce yourself first", she offered. Solate rolled her eyes,

"Like you didn't get that answer from Cuddles", she said cheekily.

Hermione looked at the group, "Cuddles?", she asked.. Tigerius Ceasar nonchalantly tried to look the other way, but was failing miserably.

"Yes", Solate nodded with a straigth, solemn face. "He's really cuddly, and his fur is soft. Therefore he is Cuddles."

"But anyway, I'm Solate. There, you have my name, could I now know yours?", she asked, while almost immediately switched to bouncing in excitement again.

Tigerius send a long-suffering look their way, one that practically screamed that one mournful question.

'Do you see what I've got to deal with? Do. You. See?'

Nevertheless, Harry spoke up, "These are Hermione Weasly-Granger, Ron Weasly and Draco Malfoy, my lieutenants, And my name is Harlequin Potter, although I'd prefer if you called my Harry or Harley, really. My friends and I decided to go on vacation, and the spell that we used for it landed us here, in the middle of where-ever this is.

"Cactakara Forest", Cu… Tigerius Ceasar repeated helpfully.

"Right…"


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** I am tired. And wet. And totally not in the mood to rewrite these chapters into a single longer one, like I had originally planned.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I** don't own any of the recognizable parts of this story.

* * *

"It's scary how much alike they are", Ron remarked.

The reason for this statement was the behaviour of his friend, and the girl they had found. Not only did she look like harry's mini-me, but even their actions seemed to be synchronized in some ways.

Both girls overheard him, stopped walking and tilted their head in aforementioned synch.

"You are right", Hermione admitted at this display, "It IS a bit creepy..."

"It is also within hearing range", Harry called cheerfully, while Solate looked down to her fidgeting hands, not sure how to reply. If she was with THE others she would have added to the banter, but while she was quite open to everyone, it was naturally a hell of a lot less with strangers.

Nevertheless, she wasn't going to let a lost group of people stay lost, no matter how suspicious, and despite Alka's fervent warnings about stranger danger.

There were quite honestly very, very few things that would be worse than she had gone through before, and while the group did have something about them that set of her warning bells, it had little to do with their attitude or actions, and more with the fact that they felt like... Well... quite a bit MORE than most humans... or less. If that made any sense.

She had offered to help them to Navea, one of the largest cities of the continent, and they were very nearly there. She could have simply teleported them to Brevis, and led them through the Warp Portal to said destination, but she wasn't quite done observing them yet.

She may have trusted them enough to leave herself mostly open, but not enough to just drop them off in the heart of the main trading hub without second thought.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the recognizable franchises in this and future stories

* * *

Alkahestry, more commonly known as Alka, closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in what was a mix of irritation and exasperation.

"Solate, what have I told you about bringing home strays?", she asked, her tone dry.

The girl in front of her looked everywhere but Alka's eyes.

"B... But, they were lost...", Solate protested, "Like really, really not of this world lost... And they were nice and only slightly suspicious. They c..could have died in that forest... "

Alka gave her a Look, trying to keep the expletives from escaping.

"Sola... Somehow I don't think Death is any problem to them..."

The girl in front of her perked up, "So they're like Envoys them..."

This exclamation set both groups on edge.

"No", Alka deadpanned, although she was panicking slightly behind that pokerface. "Gaia is life itself, and she doesn't like to let go of her chosen Envoys, whether it be of natural courses or not. Your strays are the opposite, deriving their powers from Death itself, if I'm not mistaken."

At this point Ron couldn't stay silent any longer, "How the bloody hell does everyone keep figuring this out?", he asked, drawing this 'Alka's' attention to the group.

"It's a gift", she replied, her face continueing to be as blank as it was before., before elaborating."A sense that comes to everyone sufficiently in touch with Gaia. Whether they are from Azuria, Aura Kingdom or Pandemonium."

"Nyah", Solate suddenly piped up, for no apparent reason..

Alka wanted to facepalm, of all the times for that vocal tic of hers to play off...

'Friend or not, I am sooooo getting her guildleader for this...', she decided silently.

She outwardly smiled however, "Or them", she agreed. "Say, why don't you go look for Suikane or Gehenna? I'm sure they are willing to spend some time with you.

She turned to stare at the strays, the meaning behind her look quite clear.

"In the meantime, I would like to have a long, nice conversation with your new _friends_..."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other mentioned franchises, which for this chapter are 'Aura Kingdom' and one very brief mention of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'.

* * *

The girl, Alkahestry folded her hands in front of her face, leaning on her arms in a manner that reminded Hermione keenly of a japanese animation her cousin had showed her, back when she was actually in her teens, and everything went to hell.

The character in question was a bastard that was, in hindsight, far too resembled by Dumbledore and his Greater Good, for her to linger too much on said resemblance -for the sake of her mental health that is-

Distractions aside though, as said musing was interrupted by the voice of the girl in question,

"I would like to hear your side of the story now.", she 'asked nicely', "Please do not leave anything out."

Of course, the facade did nothing to hide the fact that it was, first and foremost, a pleasantly worded order and threat respectively. The 'Or. Else.' was practically tangible, but went uncommented by everyone but the narra...

* * *

_*Excuse us for the inconvenience - Please wait a moment while the fourth wall is being fixed*_

* * *

Ah... Dangabit.

* * *

Ron shrugged it off and said plainly, "A small faction of magical inbred morons thought it was a good idea to kill or enslave all non-magicals. The non-magicals, who outnumbered them greatly, were not amused by the idea, and responded in kind to all magicals, all the while killing our world in the progress. We finally managed to get an out, and lo and behold, here we are, after literally bumping into your friend."

Alkahestry had an alarmed look on her face at this explanation.

"You...", she spluttered, "But... WHAT?"

And really, she couldn't get her head around it. Why would anyone be stupid enough to anger an enemy that outnumbered them? Why were they separate factions to begin with?

Then her mind flashed back to Brian, who had gone mad with the same power she now wielded, easing her mind to that point at least.

In the same manner the killing of their world had some similarities to what was happening with Oblitus Woods, probably, but on a larger scale. Disproportionate retribution and Dimensional Travel were also nothing new to her, but still, the combination of these factors and the blasé way in which it was conveyed... This guy is...

Slightly surprisingly it was Draco that made the next move and slapped the back of Ron's head. Hermione had also been poised to do so, while Harry merely put her face in her hands and groaned.

"That's it in a very, very tight nutshell", Hermione agreed, but only barely. "Of all the ways to word it though, this might be one of the more ridiculous. Please ignore his lack of tact and thought."

Semi-helpfully Harry added, "It's possibly the trauma, or something..."

* * *

**AN:** Because really, having a world out to kill you, and those like you, will probably result in one hell of an emotional disconnect.


	8. Chapter 8

'That... That... goddamn little screw...', though Harry miserably, while she send a _diffindo_ at another giant spider. Naturally they had left Ron behind a while ago, in a section already cleared by the main group, while they kept dealing with the poisonous arachnids.

Ofcourse she was thinking about that woman who had send them on this errand, without any chance to protest.

Admittedly, She had never expected this to be a vacation, but she also had had enough of fighting for a while, and while relieving her anger at the spiders was oddly therapeutic, it was not what she had had in mind when she came to this world. Combat been far, far down her list of things she wanted to do.

At her side Draco was having similar thoughts, if the glares accompanying his blasting curses were anything to go by. It could hardly be personal after all, seeing how his targets of choice were the eggs lining the room.

Suddenly they heard yelling from the front. It seems they had finished the next 'boss' off.

She'd have been relieved, if not for the fact that new Queens seemed to pop up at a break-neck pace. Hell, you barely left the cave system, and another would have grown into the role already.

It was just so goddamn tedious!

She huffed in annoyance, "No wonder that woman shoves this unto others", she muttered.

Meanwhile they were done with the spiders in this room, and called out to Ron and Hermione, "Spiders are gone, we're moving on to the Dimetodrons."

They heard a muffled reply and some stumbling, before a flushed couple rounded the corner.

The annoyed look on Draco's face, summed up her thoughts exactly.

She simply shook her head and sighed.

In the meantime however, the other group was almost at Argus' location already. "They're taking their sweet time aren't they", Gehenna noted annoyed. Sekhmet simply rolled her eyes, "It's not like they're professionals", she said exasperated, "You simply shouldn't hold them to the same standards as us. I mean, most of us are mercenaries to some degree."

"They're not exactly civilians either", Gehenna responded dryly.

"But unlike us they never chose this lifestyle", Sekhmet said softly.

The other girl snorted, "Like we can help it either. You know what'd happen if we didn't side with the church."

"It's like I agree with those protocols either, but you've got to admit it makes sense from an impersonal point of view. It's still a breakdown waiting to happen.", Sekhmet said, knowing the other knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Still, sometimes I think that man might have a point..."

Sekhmet snorted, "Not that that makes him right either..."

"Makes who right?", asked a voice behind him. It was the brunette, Hermione. Gehenna shivered, something about that girl was familiar, yet slightly off. If only she could figure out whatever it was...

"Oh, just some guy we know", Sekhmet waved it off.

It wasn't a total lie either...


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:** Not entirely satisfied with this. But ah... Too hell with it...

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter, Aura Kingdom or any of the other franchises mentioned.

* * *

In the end the expected blowup never happened. Hermione, of all people, was surprisingly closest to snapping, but after some quick thinking and a resulting stunner from Ron, the crisis was averted. The other three were taken apart by Atish, Sekhmet's fraternal twin brother before they came to that point.

"Look", he said, "I understand you're pissed. Hell, everyone of us does, save perhaps Solate, but Gaia knows what goes around in that mind of hers, but the fact is that remains not in our power to change a thing."

By this point the three had calmed down, so he continued:

"First of all, we can't support freeloaders. I guess you could just leave, if you are really sick of working, but that will lead to other problems. Right now Alka is doing all she can to keep the Dimensional Mages and the Church of your backs. Both factions really don't appreciate Outsiders, or in the latter's case, any change in the status quo.

Helping with these common quests not only increases your value in the eyes of these factions, something which might lead to them backing off, but it also increases your overall status. WE can't shield you forever, and having some political capital build up will work wonders."

He paused and smiled wryly, "Besides, you're only doing the work Alkahestry can't do because she's lobbying for you guys. So, don't take this wrongly, but please redirect your righteous anger at someone else."

He didn't mention they did a little bit more than that, but he LIKED being able to get at least 6 hours of sleep a day. If that meant Alka spend all her time not lobbying doing all the paperwork, instead of going of on dungeon runs, well, who was he to complain? Especially since they were with four of them, instead of one single person doing all that work.

Admittedly, Alkahestry was being a bit of a bitch about it for some reason, but he could honestly say that befuddled even her. Although having seen some of the knowing glances from Azukariel, he could say the latter did have an inkling about what was going on.

Too bad she wasn't sharing it with anyone.

Not that he'd dared ask, mind you. The girl, despite her usual gentle cloud cuckoo disposition, was literally axe-crazy. Like really literally. That woman could and would do scary things if she had her beloved Decapitator in hand.

Which was always.

"She could at the very least ask nicely", Harry grumbled.

"That's something she could, and probably should do", he agreed, "I'm not even sure, why it's not happening already, and neither is she. Something about you guys just rubs her the wrong way..."

"It's very much mutual", the three chorused, and Draco added, "Although we know exactly why SHE's getting on our nerves."

Atish face-palmed.

This was getting nowhere...


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything recognizable

* * *

This was indeed getting nowhere.

Nowhere but on everyone's nerves that is. Nevertheless both groups persevered, out-stubborning the other, and eventually they began to move like a well-cohesive unit.

This was after three years of constant catfights between Hermione and Alkahestry. And the long-suffering but fraying patience of everyone but Solate, who seemed to be oblivious to the tension between the two brunnettes.

If Sekhmet had been the narrator, she would have made a lame pun that for it to be a catfight should involve either her or Solate too, but thankfully, she was not.

* * *

It will be a cold day in Pandemonium when she takes over MY job. Literally. Her puns are worse than mine.

But... ahem... I shouldn't let personal pride get in the way of narrating this very interesting story -not-.

* * *

"Are we there yet", Solate whined

"No", Atish sighed.

"And now"

Sekhmet took over, "Nope sweety, try again..."

Solate brightened up, "Okay, I'll do that. And now?"

Sekhmet blinked, that was not quite what she had meant.

Meanwhile Harry had her patience run frayed at the constant questioning for HOURS, and she did the only pragmatic thing.

She silenced Solate.

Alkahestry wouldn't admit it, but everyone could swear they heard her heave a sigh of relief at that. She had been kneading her head for the past 30 minutes, wincing everytime the archer asked that question at that volume.

She had a lot to reteach that girl. She might finally have decency and a modicum of common sense down again, but she still didn't really understand the concept of an indoor-voice, and thus, her repeated lessons to keep her voice down didn't stick.

It didn't help one bit that Sekhmet and Azukariel encouraged the girl's behaviour at times, the former for her own amusement, and the latter because she seriously didn't see anything wrong with it.

But anyway, the reason for Solate's incessant questions was the journey to Vulture's Vale. Most of the envoys had gone there before, but it was new territory for the wizards.

Usually she wouldn't have let them come to such a high-tension battleground, but some wave of sorts, originating from there was disrupting the teleportgates, and all capable and relatively free hands were called in to find the origin.

It didn't help that even with their increased speed and endurance, most of the group had still been on another continent all-together. Luckily the wizards could side-apparate most of them to Navea for their debriefing, but that did not take away they had to cross the continent AGAIN to get to Vulture's Vale.

So here they were, all on their mounts -brooms included-, travelling the waaaaay too long distance.

* * *

Draco was thinking of things much along the same line. Although his centered mostly around one part.

The cushioning charms on his broom were wearing off, and he was FEELING it.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN:** For those confused where the hell the Ryedon came from: They're from one of the original stories I was working on. They manage the -what they believe to be- the entirety of the omniverse. But... *Spoiler deleted*

Most of the information in this chapter is contrary to what little AK canon is known at this point, but I want to get part 1 of the story over with soon. [Corrections that would still fit with the story would be rather appreciated. Especially the Supernova part, if there are mistakes in it. I'm really not cut out for science...

* * *

"I still couldn't believe that anyone was stupid enough to think nuking a gate to another plane was a good idea...", Hermione said dryly. Draco rolled his eyes. "As you've said before. But the evidence clearly lies before you."

Well, not that close before them, they kept a relatively safe distance after all, but the distortion around the miniature tear in the fabric of time-space that had formed was plain to see. Like a black hole it was sucking light in, although they could sense that the surroundings seemed to remain mostly intact, oddly enough.

Not that even Hermione or Alkahestry were stupid enough to try and understand the mechanics behind it. Some of the oldest beings in Pandemonium and Aura Kingdom might have been taught the workings of the worlds by the last of the Ryedon, in an effort to lighten the workload Yggdrasil would have to shoulder once their inevitable end came.

After many years they had gone to sleep though, and had left the Gaia Cube to regulate the processes of this world. Had the Shadow Knight known how to truly use it, he could have simply erased the Temporal Phenomena that was known to the world as the Chains of Time, but he didn't, no one did, and up to this point it had worked out.

Until time-space was broken by an idiot move, and it was all made moot.

Many locals had already fallen into what could be compared to a cataconic state, the distortion of the fabric of this world being too much for their minds to handle. Only the wizards, and oddly enough Alkahestry, Solate and Azukariel managed to stay cognizant at this range.

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco had initially thought it was because they were not affected because they were not of this world. The awareness of the other three though, seemed to disprove this hypothesis.

"We could try the Accordea Flux method", Hermione mused out loud.

Alkahestry snorted, "Like that barmy old hag knew what she was talking about. They banned her research for a good reason, and it wasn't just because she was causing risk to the universe."

Hermione opened her mouth, and closed it. She gained a thoughtful look. "I guess", she said skeptically, although her brow remained furrowed, as if there was something wrong, something she just couldn't pinpoint, it was on the tip of her tongue, but...

This wasn't the time to wonder about that though.

"Does anyone have any better ideas?", Harry asked, interrupting that train of thought.

Solate raised her hand, "We could try to awaken the Twilight Gods. The Real ones, I mean, not like the fake Argus in the Triatio Highlands. Surely, they would know what to do."

It was a plan. It was a ridiculously good plan even, considering who had come up with it. However, one problem remained.

"How the hell would we go about something like that?", Ron easily voiced that what most of them were thinking.

This was when a voice haltingly spoke up. It was Azukariel's [Weaver of Tales] Arachne. The Eidolons might not be directly affected, not being of this world anyway, but this time-space anomaly was causing havoc on the ability of their avatars to remain corporeal.

"SOmeoNe cOUld SeT Of a shoCkWAve BAck iN tHe aUrA KIngDoM. It CoUld wAKe Up tHe sLEEpeRs On oUr SiDE oF ThE EquAtiOn."

[Cheery Sylph] Merrilee gasped, her own voice too far distorted for her words to reach the humans of the group, but the sharpness of her retort was easily picked up from her body language anyway.

Arachne cringed at that reply, "iT iS ThE oNLy WaY..."

The reply was once again garbled, and accompanied by a slowly widening eyes, realization dawning in those pink orbs.

"MyseLf oFcoURse...", The rest of that answer went unheard, as Arachne's ability to voice her words in this world faltered for a bit, as another spike of cosmic void energy hit. Firmly she continued as the wave subsided, "It Is aS NeEdED."

Arachne's plan was very simple, if rather unelegant. She'd gather all her energy, convert it into heavy elements... And... And... Well compress it to the point of collapse amidst the sleeping Titans.

Basically, she'd cause a supernova. No, that is not the correct term, she'd fully become one. THe supernova itself would only barely faze the Oldest Ones, but her sacrifice should be enough to wake them up nevertheless.

And a sacrifice it was. Beings outside of the Chains of Time were ridiculously hard to kill. It was quite literally an Impossibility. It could not be computed, so the cause of it would simply be erased.

What Arachne was giving up was not just her life, but the entirety of her existence. Every single step she had taken gone. All the lifes she had touched, unsullied. It was this effect, this shift that would wake up the Old Ones.

She just hoped it would work.


End file.
